TIDEWATER SOUTHERN RAILWAY
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Snapshot History: The Tidewater Southern was a wholey owned Western Pacific subsdiary. It extended south down the San Joaquin Valley From Stockton, to Modesto, eventually extending almost to the Merced River. At a place known as Hatch, several miles northeast of end of track, they built a line east to Turlock. California. Originally, the 48-mile line was electric (1918 to 1946) intermixed with conventional railroad service. Ninety-years later portions of the line continue under Union Pacific, and a private company, operation. Today, most historians would disagree with the following paragraph. There is much written newspaper history of the day however to support it. During the 1905-1906 period, ten years before the TS, Western Pacific interests began to plan a railroad from Stockton southwest to a crossing of the Merced River, turn west through the Hamilton Range via Pecheco Pass, and end up in the lower Santa Clara Valley where it would make connections with the Ocean Shore and the San Joaquin Valley Western railroads. Further, there was a plan to connect to the San Juan Southern and extend into the Salinas Valley and on to the Coast. They were buying property and their surveyors were reported in the Pass many times. Had the 1906 earthquake not occured, and many west coast capitalists wiped out, the line and all its connections, probably would have happened. The Southern Pacific would have not been the the only game on the Coast. Instead, the Tidewater Southern came along a few years later and built over a bit of the the San Joaquin Valley plan. Today, 40-miles inland in the lower Santa Clara Valley, their is a road headed in a straight line at the entrance to Pacheco Pass, "Ocean Shore Road."
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TWS 4-6-0 #1
Image, Tidewater Southern 4-6-0 #1, 1920's Order No. TWS01I Photographer: Dan McKellips A Former Denver & Rio Grande locomotive, Tidewater Southern 4-6-0 #1 is seen at Turlock. The Tidewater Southern was originally an electric line from Stockton, to Modesto, to Turlock, California. In later years it became part of the Western Pacific, and in 1980, the Union Pacific. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------TWS Alco RS-1 #746
Image, Tidewater Southern Alco RS-1 diesel #746. 1973 Order No. TWS746CI Stockton, California, July 4, 1973: A Tidewater Southern Alco RS-1 diesel road switcher #746 sits in the yard among fuel tank cars. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------
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